Plot Summary: Josh is working on a big case, a conviction against a member of the notorious MS-13 gang. In an attempt to force Josh to drop the case, the gang threatens Beth, but Josh refuses to fold and enlists Mick’s help in protecting her.

Review:To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. (Quote from The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis).This excerpt, from an author best known today for his novel The Chronicles of Narnia, caught my attention as I contemplated my review of Love Lasts Forever, a fast-paced thriller of an episode that showed why Moonlight is deserving of all the buzz. (As well as a People’s Choice Award and possibly more recognition, if the writers’ strike ends before the beginning of the next millennium.)

Before I get philosophical, I want to give a quick overview of the procedural portion of Love Lasts Forever. Right off the bat Loyal Viewers, we know the bad guy, the bad guy’s goals, and that Josh Lindsey, Beth’s on-again-off-again boyfriend, is going to play a major role in this episode. The set up is that Josh, Mr. D.A., is going to take the hit for prosecuting a crime lord from El Salvador one way or another—and quickly, we learn that the way the bad guys want to play it is to go after Beth. Ironically, Josh asks Mick to protect their mutual ladylove. And that’s when it begins - a harrowing, exciting, angst-ridden, well-written episode that tore the guts out of our hero Mick St. John metaphorically, and out of Josh, literally.

This was a big episode for Jordan Belfi, the actor who plays Josh. His character is not confused about his feelings. He loves Beth and has for more than a year (pre-series). He also forgives her for getting caught up in the intrigue that is associated withprivate eye Mick St. John. He believes Beth cares about him and, although she went off to New York with Mick on a case, she came right back. So Josh is as pure as they come, an innocent bystander in the complex roller coaster that is the Mick/Beth relationship.

As C.S. Lewis says, when you’re in love, you’re vulnerable. The next thing we know, Josh becomes the victim of the revenge initially directed at Beth. This leads to a sequence of violence and bloodshed that is riveting. Once Josh is thrown into the trunk of that car, we know things won’t end well. I expected Josh to die, but I didn’t expect to experience each moment of his dying so vividly.

Kudos are well deserved for the actors’ work in sustaining the tension throughout Josh’s death scene. It was gory, bloody, and heart-wrenching, but we learned a lot about each of them—from Mick’s days as a medic, to Beth’s selfishness (more on that later), to Josh’s last words about his first days with the love of his life.

Best Lines

Mick: (voiceover) “How does an immortal handle mortal feelings?”

Mick: (voiceover) “Blood is vengeance.”

Beth: “Can’t be all that bad to live forever. You’ll see things when I’m gone, when everyone’s gone, that…we can’t imagine now.”

Mick: (voiceover) At the end of the day not a lot separates life from death…that’s what makes it precious. (He says this kneeling over Josh’s body, and then later, the last line of the episode Mick says: (voiceover) What I do know is that at the end of the day not a lot separates life from death…only one thing… eternity.)

Things to Ponder…

Where will the blood trail end? Is there really a vampire nation?

Mick Brings Out His Vampire

Two scenes that will standout as amongst the most compelling of Moonlight’s strike-abbreviated season are the interrogation sequence and the bar scene in this episode. Alex O’Loughlin, with no special effects outside of makeup, gave Loyal Viewers the face of a snarling, vicious, brutal vampire. It was horrific and mesmerizing.

The voiceovers in Love Lasts Forever were excellent, as well. We not only learned that Mick St. John was a medic during World War II, but that he also lies to himself and to others, in particular Beth and Lieutenant Carl Davis. But he tells Josh the truth, “I won’t let anything happen to her (Beth).”

Character Development and I’m not talking about Mick

Beth Turner’s character has intrigued me since episode 1.01. Young, 26, with a brand new shiny job—Internet crime reporter—and a year-long serious relationship with an up-and-coming DA, she’s a survivor of a horrific childhood abduction that didn’t leave her so crippled she couldn’t live her life. She developed a ravenous curiosity about living, which makes the Moonlight writers’ choice of making her a reporter almost a ‘duh’ moment. So when she meets Mick St. John, whose past links unexpectedly to her own, she feels an affinity, a connection she can’t shake off. She needs to be around him, learn his secrets, protect him, and find a way to deal with her fascination with him and his world.

In Love Lasts Forever, I got a real sense of Beth Turner (although, I still sometimes feel her dialog is choppy). I don’t believe she wanted to be in love with Mick, but she was falling, and until she came face-to-face with the devastating reality of vampirism (Sleeping Beauty), she was well on her way. That episode stopped her in her tracks.

From New York, she went back to her safe haven. Josh was her connection to the normal world of the living—a world that shouldn’t include Mick. That world died with Josh, and Beth was angry—angry because a man she cared about was dead, brutally shot in front of her, and the vampire she was falling in love with was a witness to the end of her normal world. Mick even tried to save Josh, but although she begged, Mick refused to turn Josh into a vampire.

In this episode, Beth asked Mick all the tough questions from save him please, for me to would you have saved me? She also played self-preservation games, pushing Mick away casually with statements like “So take a vampire wife then.” She may have seemed hard, or even disloyal, but Beth is a survivor. She doesn’t like feeling vulnerable. Perhaps she realized that loving Mick could break her heart, and being with Josh wouldn’t hurt as much. That’s the mindset I believe she brought to the love scene with Josh—the need to connect to a future without Mick. That’s why she looked so uncomfortable with Josh (good work Sophia Myles).

Loyal Viewers, there’s only one episode left this season. Wow, what a ride! Stay tuned to Voices from Krypton during the hiatus (because I believe this show will return). We’ll have updates, special features and more, because we don’t plan on letting Moonlight fade away.

January 09, 2008

While fans await the February arrival of Justice League: New Frontier, they've found great enjoyment in the Superman: Doomsday DVD. Now that film's writer, Duane Capizzi, is providing Voices From Krypton with an exclusive in depth look back at the making of the film. This is the first in a four-part interview.

Plot Summary: Mick has a lot on his mind after Beth’s staking of the hospitalized Coraline when he learns Josef’s office has been torched. Now he must deal with his best friend’s apparent death and finding Josef’s killer. Mick and Tom, Josef’s head of security, launch an investigation into the attack. This leads Mick and Beth to New York City and a surprising discovery about Josef’s past.

Review: “Hope, Lies and Sacrifice” could well be the subtitle of “Sleeping Beauty”, episode 1.10 of Moonlight. We had Mick embracing hope, Josef telling lies and three women choosing to make tough decisions about what they were willing to sacrifice to be in love with a vampire. Interestingly enough, two of the women — both from eras long ago — chose to jump into the flames for their vampire lovers, while one — Beth Turner — jumps into a cab to catch a flight (modern women can be so frustratingly practical).

But before I dive into all of that, let’s recap the procedural plotline of “Sleeping Beauty”. In this episode, Mick sets out to find the person trying to kill his best friend, Josef. At first, Mick does not question the why of the assassin’s motives. It’s a given Josef has enemies, and Josef reacts to this kind of attack from the eye-for-an-eye book of payback. But after finding out Josef’s not dead, Mick follows him to New York City in hopes of preventing Josef from doing something stupid. Mick and Beth (who comes along to “stop Mick from doing something stupid”) meet a 93 year-old man who has a lot of hate in his heart and revenge on his mind. Turns out Josef’s alias Charles killed (or as it turns out tried to turn) Whitley’s daughter in 1955.

This episode was enjoyable, yeah, and fast-paced, and almost breathless in its scene progression. We also had passionate performances from the main cast, and some of the seasons best choreographed fight scenes.

But Mick’s emotional journey was the star of the episode. From controlled anger, to uncontrolled grief to rage and finally elation, he covered the emotional gambit, including a scene where his grief was so raw it was tough to watch (more on that scene later).

Then there was Josef. He’s not big on telling Mick the truth. Watch carefully, if you’re into re-watching episodes, but Josef is showing himself to be somewhat of a master manipulator of the truth (could it be his hedge fund trader skills coming into play?). Not only did he mislead Mick about the human/vampire relationship deal, but when quizzed about Richard Whitley (Sarah’s dad) he flat out lied until he was forced to do otherwise.

I found Jason Dohring’s performance delectable in this episode. Some may say that Josef

behaves immaturely at times considering his age — being a 400 year-old vampire. But Josef was turned in his early twenties. And as we learned in “Arrested Development” (episode 1.05), vampires can be saddled with aspects of the personalities they had at the time they were turned. I believe we see that in Josef. He screams spoiled aristocrat from the 16th century, while Mick, for example, is a GI. He fought in World War II, most likely enlisted at age 20, and survived the Battle of the Bulge. Mick’s a warrior. Josef is a negotiator.

Other liars in the episode included Security Chief Tom, who paid for his deceit with a bullet in the head (we presume as much from the bloody computer monitor).

How much to sacrifice is the choice for the women in “Sleeping Beauty”. Clearly, Coraline will sacrifice whatever it takes to get Mick. It’s just that her tactics are a bit warped. Still, to me Coraline is a tragic figure. She loves Mick absolutely. She’s done bad things, yes, but her goal is clear.“Mick” - That was her last word as her human life slipped away (which is what I believe we saw in that last scene, Coraline’s human death).

Josef’s Sarah sacrificed her family, and her human life for him. That’s a lot of love to end up in a coma.

However, both of these women were from another era. Could that contribute to their idea of love? Could be.

Because our Beth, Loyal Viewers, got in a cab.

I thought Beth’s dialog in “Sleeping Beauty” was inconsistent in some spots. I think the writers are working at nailing down her motivations, but she has a lot going on (Josh, Mick, Josh, Mick, vampires exist, Mick, Josh). But her actions were right on in that last scene in my humble opinion. She’s struggling with the idea of falling in love with a man that’s not a man (vampire, remember) and having loved or still in love with another man, a good man she’s left at home. Josh is the sensible option. And as mad as it made me, she had only one choice. Get in the cab.

Odds and Ends

·Josef’s office—one of the most beautiful sets on the show—trashed—blown to bits! Where will Josef live now?

·Mick is Josef’s muscle. But at least, Mick dictates housekeepingJ).

·What’s Mick going to do with the vial of blood he extracted from Coraline? (I know, the cure.)

Every scene between Josef and Mick was intense and layered. That friendship is complicated just like every relationship on this show. Nothing is just on the surface on Moonlight.

Alex took a risk and went for sobbing instead of moist eyes in the hallway scene, and it was tough to watch. Why? It was so raw and personal. Male actors — especially sexy leads — usually avoid big time sobbing. But Alex didn’t and I salute his choice.

Mick and Hopefulness:

The last scene in “Sleeping Beauty” between Mick and Beth was a thrill ride of emotions—going in opposite directions. Beth was filled with doubt about Sarah’s sacrifice and perhaps some empathy for Coraline’s plight (maybe a reach, but…). While Mick, for the first time in the show’s 10 episodes, revealed to Beth some of the man he’d been before he’d met Coraline, before he was turned. As Mick said, “Josef Konstan in love? I guess that proves anything can happen.” And that translated into even Mick St. John can be happy.

One thing about watching Moonlight 1.10, we learned that this show doesn’t believe in making it easy on any of its characters — and that’s one of the things I enjoy about it.

January 02, 2008

Did you know that back in the early 1960s the Beatles were transported back in time where they encountered William Shakespeare? And that the Queen demanded that the Fab Four collaborate with the playwrite to create a musical that would please her? Well that's the idea behind a London musical in development called A Bard Day's Night, the songs for which are written by singer Chris O'Neill, whose voice sounds amazingly like Paul McCartney's. For a preview of A Bard Day's Night and the debut of one of its songs, "Blueberry Meadow," click HERE.